1967: The Beatles and "Magical Mystery Tour"

Where did the time go?    On this day in 1967,  The Beatles released their second LP of the year or "Magical Mystery Tour".     The other one was "Sgt Pepper's".

Side A were songs from the film.   Side B were the 1967 singles, including their new one "Hello Goodbye" already on its way to # 1 on Billboard USA.

The film was horrible, a boring movie about The Beatles going around in a bus.   It was nothing like "Help", "A hard day's night" or later "Yellow submarine".

The soundtrack was very good, specially the title song, "The fool on the hill" and "Your mother should know".    It's surprising that they weren't released as singles in the US.

Rolling Stone ranked this LP as #19 of movie soundtracks.   

So we remember The Beatles and this week in 1967.

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We remember James Brown (1933-2006)

James Brown died in 2006, or many years ago this week.   I remember seeing this:

"James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured "Godfather of Soul," whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died Monday, his agent said. He was 73."

In the late 1960s, I was a big fan of James Brown. His legacy is a string of hits and songs!   You can get his collection HERE.

Rest in peace, James Brown. You left us a lot of good music.

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Christmas 1967: The Magical Mystery Tour and The Beatles

It was not their best album but pretty good. 

Christmas 1967 and The Beatles released Magical Mystery Tour.   It was the soundtrack of a British TV movie but it flopped in the US.

Nevertheless, there were some pretty good songs, including the title song and The Fool on the hill.

The LP also included the 1967 singles, including my very favorite Hello Goodbye and its crazy B-side I am the walrus. (What was that song all about anyway).

By the way, isn't the Hello Goodbye video great? Did The Beatles invent MTV? I think so!

The other singles were Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever. These two songs are about Liverpool, their hometown in Northern England. Penny Lane is a street in Liverpool. Strawberry Fields was a Salvation Army children's home. John and Paul spent much of their childhood around these two places.

Also included was All you need is love! The Beatles performed this song on the BBC and it was shown across the world by satellite. Last, but not least, Baby you're a rich man, another one of those songs that has been lost over the years.

Overall, a decent LP. It was not as revolutionary as Sgt. Pepper's. It was not as melodic as Revolver (For no one) or Rubber Soul (I'm looking through you). 

But it was OK.

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We remember Phil Spector (1939-2021)

Phil Spector was born in the Bronx, NY, on this day in 1939 and died in prison in January 2021.    A few years ago, he was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 19 years to life in prison for the 2003 fatal shooting of actress Lana Clarkson.

From "Be my baby" "You've lost that loving feeling" to the excessively produced Beatles "Let it Be" LP to a great "Christmas album", Spector was regarded as a master of production.

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December 1957: Pat Boone's "April Love" was # 1

In 1957, Elvis Presley and Pat Boone were the two most popular vocalists.   Elvis was the king of rock and Pat was the king of romantic tunes.    

On this day in 1957, it was Pat's turn to sit in the # 1 spot with "April Love".   He displaced Elvis' "Jailhouse Rock" from the top of the charts.

You can get it here!      It was based on a movie of the same name, although the song was more memorable than the film!

 P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.